Diving chess players battle it out at world championships

Divers competed at the world championship of a unique hybrid sport that combines swimming and chess in Poland. Players must hold their breath and dive underwater to play out a match on the bottom of a pool. The matches are played on custom-built, weighted, and magnetic boards that can hold up submerged at the bottom of a pool.

Players must make each move on just one breath of air before emerging between moves. Lithuanian Grandmaster Paulius Pultinevicius and Poland’s Anna Andrzejewska were crowned 2026 world champions in diving chess. #diving #chess #sports #championship